Peer-reviewed article
Caregiver Nutrition and Nurturing Care: A Scoping Review
Taryn J. Smith, Alice Fortune, Melissa Gladstone ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This scoping review examined evidence linking caregiver nutrition to nurturing care behaviours in young children. The authors analysed 23 studies (17 observational and 6 randomised trials) from mostly low- and middle-income countries. They found that poor caregiver nutrition, food insecurity, anaemia and low vitamin status were associated with less responsive caregiving and fewer early learning opportunities. Iron and food-based supplements given to undernourished or anaemic caregivers improved caregiver-child interactions, but some supplementation trials showed no effect when caregivers were not specifically undernourished.
Key points
- Suboptimal caregiver diets, food insecurity, under- and overnutrition, anaemia and low vitamin B6 status were associated with less responsive caregiving and fewer early learning opportunities
- Most studies (n=18) measured caregiving through live or videotaped observations of caregiver-child interactions
- Iron and food-based supplements given to anaemic or food-insecure caregivers positively altered caregiver-child interactions
- Supplementation trials that did not specifically target undernourished caregivers found no effects on caregiving behaviours
- The majority of included studies (n=15) were conducted in low- and middle-income countries
Limitations
This is a scoping review that maps existing evidence rather than a systematic review with quality assessment, so conclusions about intervention effectiveness are descriptive. The review does not provide detailed analysis of study quality, effect sizes, or mechanisms explaining how caregiver nutrition influences caregiving behaviours.
Abstract
Research on early childhood development has focused on child health, nutrition and stimulation. However, less attention has been given to the role of caregiver nutrition in shaping caregiving behaviours. Suboptimal caregiver nutrition may impair the ability to provide responsive and nurturing care. This scoping review aimed to summarise the existing evidence on the link between caregiver nutrition and nurturing care, specifically responsive caregiving and early learning opportunities. Database (Medline) and citation searches yielded 23 articles meeting inclusion criteria (n = 17 observational; n = 6 randomised controlled trials [RCTs]). The majority (n = 15) were conducted in low- and middle-income countries. Observational studies measured caregiver anthropometry (n = 8), dietary intakes/diversity/quality (n = 6), anaemia (n = 6) and vitamin B6 status (n = 1). RCTs supplemented pregnant and/or postpartum women with iron (n = 2), multiple micronutrients (n = 2), fish oil (n = 1) and food-based snacks (n = 1). Most articles (n = 18) measured caregiving through live or videotaped observations of caregiver-child interactions; the remaining used caregiver self-reported measures of stimulation or caregiver-child bonding/relationship. Overall, suboptimal diets, food insecurity, caregiver under- and overnutrition, anaemia and low vitamin B6 status were associated with less responsive caregiving and fewer opportunities for early learning. Providing anaemic or food-insecure caregivers with iron or food-based supplements positively altered caregiver-child interactions. Supplementation trials that did not specifically target undernourished caregivers found no effects on caregiving behaviours. More research specifically targeting undernourished caregivers is needed to understand how nutritional interventions might benefit caregiving. Interventions aimed at enhancing nurturing care should consider both caregiver and child nutrition as potential targets to improve outcomes for both children and their caregivers.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Nutritional supplementation (iron, multiple micronutrients, fish oil, or food-based snacks) provided to pregnant and/or postpartum caregivers
- Population
- Pregnant and postpartum women; some studies specifically targeting anaemic or food-insecure caregivers
Key finding
Iron supplementation in anaemic or food-insecure caregivers positively altered caregiver-child interactions